Rio Grande Valley Grandes
# Rio Grande Valley Grandes

Rio Grande Valley Grandes was an American soccer team based in Edinburg, Texas, United States. Founded in 2010, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Mid South Division of the Southern Conference. The team played its home games at Edinburg Field in nearby Edinburg, Texas. The team's colors were white, blue and gold. The team folded after its first season in 2011.

## History

The Grandes were awarded a PDL franchise on January 18, 2011 following the demise of their predecessor, the Rio Grande Valley Bravos, which had their franchise terminated by the USL Premier Development League in October 2010 when the club’s interim owner was unable to complete his financial obligations to the league. The team was officially announced as a USL Premier Development League expansion franchise on February 18, 2011.

The team played its first competitive game on May 6, 2011, a 5-1 loss to Laredo Heat. The first goal in franchise history was scored by Alfonso Cavazos.

## Players

### Roster

As of June 4, 2011.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | GK | USA | Juan Gamboa |
| 2 | MF | MEX | Eduardo Alvarez |
| 3 | DF | MEX | Omar Apodaca |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Brian Hardie |
| 5 | DF | MEX | Kristoffer Medina |
| 6 | MF | USA | Olaff Mina |
| 7 | MF | MEX | Alexandro Gonzalez |
| 8 | DF | MEX | David Oteo |
| 9 | FW | MEX | Alfonso Cavazos |
| 10 | FW | USA | Juan Nava |
| 11 | MF | USA | Esteban Ariel Barraza |
| 12 | MF | USA | Jesus Mireles |
| 13 | DF | USA | Jairo Castillo |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | MF | MEX | Oscar Valencia |
| 15 | MF | USA | Jorge Cantu |
| 16 | MF | MEX | Mario Perez |
| 17 | DF | USA | Jesus Pena |
| 18 | DF | USA | Vivian Garza |
| 19 | MF | SWE | Fredrik Ekvall |
| 22 | DF | MEX | Mario Zamora |
| 23 | MF | MEX | Noe de los Santos |
| 24 | MF | MEX | Misael Lopez |
| 00 | GK | USA | Irving Martinez |
| — | MF | USA | Robert Alexe |
| — | MF | MEX | Guillermo Flamarique |
| — | MF | USA | James Stansberry |

## Year-by-year

| Year | Division | League | Regular Season | Playoffs | Open Cup |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2011 | 4 | USL PDL | 6th, Mid South | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |

## Head coaches

* Gary Hamilton (2011)

## Stadia

* Edinburg Field; Edinburg, Texas (2011–present)

## Average attendance

Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20131208011525/http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html.

* 2011: to be announced
